Lisa Hannigan, ‘Black Eyed Dog’ (Nick Drake Cover)

February 6, 2013

Joe Boyd, the producer of Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, has been honoring the legendary songwriter with a series of concerts titled Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake for a few years now. In fact, we mentioned his project back in 2010, when Lisa Hannigan stole a London show with her rousing, pump organ-backed rendition of “Black Eyed Dog.” Now that live take and others from the Way to Blue series have been compiled for a new tribute record, produced by Boyd and featuring Drake’s former bassist Danny Thompson with string arrangements by Robert Kirby, who also worked on the aforementioned LPs. None of the versions we’ve heard recall Drake’s original recordings much, as the artists opted instead to pay homage by drawing on the emotion and craft behind the songs themselves with a fresh take. Hannigan’s is a fine example, and today NPR shared the album version below. Video of her performance that aired on the BBC is worth revisiting, as well, here.